Around this time of year I can't help but think of the Halloweens gone by. As a kid I loved Halloween. What kid doesn't? I don't know if it's the dressing up part that's so much fun or just going from house to house gathering as much candy as you can in one hour. When my two boys were young we'd Trick-Or-Treat in the same neighborhood we lived in, which just so happened to be where I grew up. I'd take them to the five streets near our house to the homes of people we knew and saw often in the neighborhood. They'd sit on their porches waiting on the eager Trick-Or-Treaters to come by and try to guess who it was behind the mask. We'd walk at a snail's pace so we could see all the creative costumes walking by. We'd talk and laugh and talk and laugh some more. I think it was the most fun when they were seven and under. It all seemed so magical then, everything was so exciting. We'd all get scared as we passed by the haunted house on Mill St. where. as a kid myself, I saw smoke coming out of the chimney where no one lived. OOOOO! We'd ride by that house on our bikes, time and time again, hoping to see something out of place so we could ring the bells on our bikes and zoom down the street on our bikes to tell everyone what we'd witnessed. It was fun telling that story to my boys and they seemed to believe every word that came out of my mouth. That's what kids do when they're little, they believe. As the years went by, Trick-Or-Treat was still fun but now they'd go with their friends and run as fast as they could up and down the same streets. It was the same familiar faces sitting on the porch. It was the same candy and hot popcorn in paper bags being handed out by the friendly neighbors but now the race was on, as I stood back and watched my boys from afar. When your kids are little you don't realize how fast the time will go because you're a young Mom just finishing up your day, trick-or-treating with your kids after working all day. You're tired. You know there's dishes to do when you get back home. You know that homework has to get done and baths to get. Of course everyone will stay up late after consuming several pieces of candy that's been checked and rechecked. So finally at 10 pm when everyone is asleep, you fall asleep in the chair trying to relax from this day. When you stop and think about it you have around seven Halloweens to enjoy the slow walks, the talks, the laughs, the wonder of it all. So please young Moms, enjoy those moments. Because after that, Trick-Or-Treat just isn't the same. As the years fly by you wonder where it all went. You look at pictures and try hard to remember those days of going door to door gathering treats from friendly neighbors. All those neighbors have moved on now in the circle of life, but I remember them fondly. I'm thankful my kids had a neighborhood to enjoy on Trick-Or-Treat night filled with fun memories of slow walks on dark nights with two boys I loved so much. And even though they don't dress up like super-heros or mummies anymore, or at least I don't think they do, I still love them. ~Toni~ :)
